Wednesday of the Second Week in Lent

Then the people of Judah
and citizens of Jerusalem said,
“Come, and let us devise a plot against Jeremiah,
for the law shall not perish from the priest,
nor counsel from the wise,
nor the word from the prophet.
Come, and let us strike him with the tongue,
and let us not give heed
to any of his words.”

Give heed to me, O Lord,
and listen to the voice of those
who contend with me.
Shall evil be recompensed for good?
For they have dug a pit for my soul.
Remember how I stood before you
to speak good for them,
to turn away your wrath from them.

Responsorial – Psalm 31.5-6, 14, 15-16 Resp. 17b

R. Save me, O Lord, in your loving kindness.

Pluck me out of the net that they have laid secretly for me,
for you are my stronghold.
Into your hand I commend my spirit.
You redeem me, O Lord, God of truth.

R. Save me, O Lord, in your loving kindness.

For I have heard the slander of many, terror on every side;
while they conspire together against me, they plot to take away my life.

R. Save me, O Lord, in your loving kindness.

But I trust in you, O Lord.
I said, “You are my God.”
My fate is in your hand: deliver me
from the hand of my enemies and persecutors.

R. Save me, O Lord, in your loving kindness.

Gospel – Matthew 20.17-28

As Jesus was going up to Jerusalem,
he took the twelve disciples aside,
and on the way he said to them,
“Behold, we are going up to Jerusalem,
and the Son of Human will be delivered
to the chief priests and scribes,
and they will condemn him to death,
and will hand him over to the Gentiles
to mock, to scourge, and to crucify;
and on the third day he will be raised up.”

Then the mother
of the sons of Zebedee
came to him with her sons,
kneeling and asking a certain thing of him.
He said to her, “What do you want?”
She said to him, “Command that these, my two sons,
may sit, one on your right hand,
and one on your left hand, in your Kingdom.”
But Jesus answered, “You do not know
what you are asking.
Are you able to drink the chalice
that I am about to drink?”
They said to him, “We are able.”
He said to them,
“You will indeed drink my chalice,
but to sit on my right hand
and on my left hand
is not mine to give;
but it is for those for whom
it has been prepared by my Father.”
When the ten heard it,
they were indignant with the two brothers.
But Jesus summoned them, and said,
“You know that the rulers of the Gentiles
lord it over them,
and their great ones
exercise authority over them.
It shall not be so among you,
but whoever desires
to become great among you shall be your servant.
Whoever desires to be first among you
shall be your slave,
even as the Son of Human came not to be served,
but to serve and to give his life as a ransom for many.”